Back to the book reviews- Storytelling Techniques for Digital Filmmakers by Ross Hockrow

I got this book awhile ago and just recently got around to reading it. I always used to think that filming a movie would be only slightly different than still photography and thought I would someday try my hand at it. I had my eyes opened by reading this book though. There is SO much that goes into a movie. Besides the things that relate to still photography like camera settings and similar equipment there are the types of scenes, transitions, story plot, and audio to think about. Audio is a huge one. Every sound has to be tracked separately, down to the sound of a can of pop being opened to make it all sound real and flow properly. This book is really just the beginning though. Enough to either whet the appetite or scare you off completely from becoming a filmmaker.

Boudoir Photography

I have been thinking about dipping my toes in these waters for a fair while now and finally went for it a few weeks ago with my friend Janel. She was awesome! We had a good time along with my friend Robi who did the hair and makeup, which quite frankly makes my job super easy. So many thanks go to Robi for her awesome work on this as well. I am doing another session tomorrow and have been seriously considering making this the focus of my business. Thoughts? Also if you'd like to come in to play around and do something similar shoot me a message and I can give you the full details.

Another Super Book- Professional HDR Photography by Mark Chen

If you have ever thought about trying HDR get this book. Seriously. I hadn't explored HDR photography before reading this book but after reading it I am so excited to do some shooting with HDR in mind. Mark Chen covers the start to finish process of creating an HDR image and he does so in multiple ways for the best results in different scenarios. I learned how important it is to start with a good set of images in order to achieve the best final HDR image possible. Another bonus to this book are the downloadable practice files which allow you to follow along with his steps and see for yourself how the image changes. This makes it one of the best instructional books I have read thus far.

Photographing Families Book Review

When I read books in search of photographic knowledge I really like it when there are plenty of pictures to go with the text. This book definitely has that. Photographing Families By Tammy Warnock & Lou Jacobs Jr is a great little tip book particularly for the beginning photographer. Over 50 scenarios of family photography are gone over in this book giving you a full spread of knowledge for making better family images. Each scenario is two pages with plenty of photos to guide you in utilizing that particular bit of info. There are tips on lighting, posing, location, and many other other areas of family photography. There's something for everyone to learn in this handy book.

First Book Review of the Year

My latest book is 'Commercial Photographer's Master Lighting Guide' by Robert Morrissey. This book is literally filled with the most thorough diagrams of lighting setups I have ever seen in a photography book. Not just a description of where lights were placed but the actual bird's eye view diagram. There are hundreds of sample pictures each with a diagram and explanation of how the shot was done. The first section of images show a series of small changes in lighting position and equipment with each step explained in detail. The second section of images covers the lighting setups of actual commercial shoots done by Morrissey. These also include an info box with all of the specifications used to create that image. This is basically a recipe book for commercial shoots. I'll be hanging onto this book as a reference when I want to try something new or just practice some of my skills.

Book Review Time-Direction and Quality of Light by Neil Van Niekerk

I just finished this book up and it was superb. I absolutely love all the sample images. I learn way more from seeing something in practice than only reading about it. The samples I liked most were series where slight changes were made that took the image from blah to wow. This showed just how easily you can work with all sorts of lighting situations. This was also the first time I was able to understand exactly how guide numbers work. I've always struggled with this a bit so I am really happy to understand it now and try it out more in my shooting.

A College Lighting Class in 160 Pages

As my title suggests I am talking about a book, Location Lighting Handbook for Portrait Photographers By Stephanie Zetti. I recently read this book and was impressed with how much quality information it had in it. But before I really review this book I'm going to give you a little background on me. Specifically my college days. I went to a pretty good technical school for a two year program in Photography. However as good as this school was/is the lighting class I was required to take fell short. Quite short. I was very close to requesting a refund and then retaking the course. I didn't but in hindsight I probably should have. It took me years to learn on my own through trial and error what I should have learned in a semester. But back to the present and my review. This book has in it the information I should have learned back then. It covers different lighting types and how to recognize them and use them. It also talks about how to modify those situations to suite your needs and then how to create lighting set ups from scratch to get what you want. It is seriously well worth reading. Especially if you are in or took a college lighting class that didn't stack up.